Suspect caught shoplifting chips, snacks at Lexington gas station

Kazi has a baby bump at Riverbanks Zoo

Dashcam from Cayce Department of Public Safety high-speed chase, crash

Early Friday morning, Aug. 12, 2016, Wade Livingston, in his work as a reporter for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette, was a fly on a wall as one of the people who makes Beaufort County Mosquito Control go, chief pilot Russ Appleton, took to the skies at the county airport in the agency's OV-10 Bronco for a round of combating the pests that carry West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis and Zika. Staff videoWade Livingston and Josh Mitelman

Early Friday morning, Aug. 12, 2016, Wade Livingston, in his work as a reporter for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette, was a fly on a wall as one of the people who makes Beaufort County Mosquito Control go, chief pilot Russ Appleton, took to the skies at the county airport in the agency's OV-10 Bronco for a round of combating the pests that carry West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis and Zika. Staff videoWade Livingston and Josh Mitelman

South Carolina to start screening blood donations for Zika

In the next four weeks, South Carolina and 10 other states should begin screening blood donations for the Zika virus, following a U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommendation.

Georgia has also been instructed to begin screening “as soon as feasible,” along with Alabama, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York and Texas, due to either their number of travel-associated cases or their proximity to Florida — where 14 people have acquired the virus from local mosquitoes.

The Red Cross announced Friday it was conducting blood donor tests for Zika in five southeastern states and would be expanding testing to four more states in the next two weeks. It has also stopped collecting blood in South Florida and is not accepting donations from those who have traveled to Miami-Dade County within the past month.

Zika typically stays in blood for one to two weeks, but it has been detected up to two months after a person experiences symptoms of the virus, according to the FDA.

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Georgia had 65 travel-related cases as of Thursday, including three in Chatham County, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.

The FDA recommended blood collections cease in Florida and the three U.S. territories with active Zika transmission until blood establishments begin screening donations or using pathogen reduction technology.

In all other states, the FDA recommends blood establishments begin screening donations within 12 weeks.

“There is still much uncertainty regarding the nature and extent of Zika virus transmission,” said Peter Marks, the director of the FDA’s Center of Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a news release. “At this time, the recommendation for testing the entire blood supply will help ensure that safe blood is available for all individuals who might need transfusion.”

The FDA first recommended in February that only areas with active Zika transmission screen blood donations. It wasn’t until July that the first cases of local Zika transmission were reported in the continental U.S., in the Miami area.

Suspect caught shoplifting chips, snacks at Lexington gas station

Kazi has a baby bump at Riverbanks Zoo

Dashcam from Cayce Department of Public Safety high-speed chase, crash

Zika outbreaks are currently happening in many countries and territories. The mosquitoes that can become infected with and spread Zika live in many parts of the world, including in South Carolina. Here are three ways you can protect yourself form the Zika virus. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Suspect caught shoplifting chips, snacks at Lexington gas station

Kazi has a baby bump at Riverbanks Zoo

Dashcam from Cayce Department of Public Safety high-speed chase, crash

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institutes of Health, gave an update on plans for response and coordination regarding the Zika virus in the United States. Among the topics he discussed were funding and efforts to develop vaccines to protect women of child-bearing age and their partners from Zika. C-SPAN

Suspect caught shoplifting chips, snacks at Lexington gas station

Kazi has a baby bump at Riverbanks Zoo

Dashcam from Cayce Department of Public Safety high-speed chase, crash

Maria Ramírez de Mendoza got the Zika virus while she was vacationing in Venezuela during the first trimester of her pregnancy. Her baby girl, Micaela Milagros Mendoza, was born with complications stemming from the virus. Emily MichotMiami Herald